Etimology
From Middle English trewe, from Old English trīewe, (Mercian) trēowe (“trusty, faithful”), from Proto-Germanic *triwwiz (compare Saterland Frisian trjou (“honest”), Dutch getrouw and trouw, German treu, Norwegian and Swedish trygg (“safe, secure’”), from pre-Germanic *drewh₂yos, from Proto-Indo-European *drewh₂- (“steady, firm”) (compare Irish dearbh (“sure”), Old Prussian druwis (“faith”), Ancient Greek δροόν (droón, “firm”)), extension of *dóru (“tree”) (possibly also Proto-Slavic *sъdorvъ (“healthy”) from the same root). More at tree. For the semantic development, compare Latin robustus (“tough”) from robur (“red oak”).
adjective
true (comparative truer or more true, superlative truest or most true)
(of a statement) Conforming to the actual state of reality or fact; factually correct.
Conforming to a rule or pattern; exact; accurate.
(logic) Of the state in Boolean logic that indicates an affirmative or positive result.
Loyal, faithful.
Genuine; legitimate; valid; sensu stricto.
(of an aim or missile in archery, shooting, golf, etc.) Accurate; following a path toward the target.
(of a mechanical part) Correctly aligned or calibrated, without deviation.
(chiefly probability) Fair, unbiased, not loaded.
(of a literary genre) based on actual historical events.
Examples
This is a true story.
The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again; […]. Now she had come to look upon the matter in its true proportions, and her anticipation of a possible chance of teaching him a lesson was a pleasure to behold.
The story struck the depressingly familiar note with which true stories ring in the tried ears of experienced policemen. No one queried it. It was in the classic pattern of human weakness, mean and embarrassing and sad.
Whether modern, industrial man is less or more warlike than his hunter-gatherer ancestors is impossible to determine. […] One thing that is true, though, is that murder rates have fallen over the centuries, as policing has spread and the routine carrying of weapons has diminished. Modern society may not have done anything about war. But peace is a lot more peaceful.
True, I have only read part of the book, but I like it so far.
a true copy; a true likeness of the original
[…] making his eye, foot, and hand keep true time […]
"A and B" is true if and only if "A" is true and "B" is true.
He’s turned out to be a true friend.
The true king has returned!
This is true Parmesan cheese — it is from the Parma region.
The Harpe. […] A harper with his wreſt maye tune the harpe wrong / Mys tunyng of an Inſtrument ſhal hurt a true ſonge
The Washington Monument is often described as an obelisk, and sometimes even as a “true obelisk,” even though it is not. A true obelisk is a monolith, a pylon formed out of a single piece of stone.
true sparrows
true spiders
true blusher
The true bugs are those of the order Hemiptera; and, by some lights, most truly those of the suborder Heteroptera.
Whate'er the weapon, still his aim was true, Nor e'er in vain the fatal bullet flew.
I held my breath and struck the ball. My aim was true, but I didn't give the damn thing enough gas. It died three feet from the cup.
Is my bike wheel true? It feels unsteady.
Let Z t {\displaystyle Z_{t}} be twice the value of a true die shown on the t {\displaystyle t} -th toss.
In fact, few profit margins can be predicted with such reliability as those provided by a true roulette wheel or other game of chance.
We do not reject, because 9 heads and 3 tails is in a set of reasonably likely results when we toss a true coin.
true crimetrue romance
[A] skinny blonde of about twenty sitting in an armchair by an electric fire reading a true romance magazine.
Related words
antonyms
(antonym(s) of "of a statement"): false; see also Thesaurus:untrue
untrue
related terms
truth
adverb
true (not comparable)
(of shooting, throwing etc) Accurately.
(archaic) Truthfully.
Examples
This gun shoots true.
Plant breeding is always a numbers game. […] The wild species we use are rich in genetic variation, and individual plants are highly heterozygous and do not breed true. In addition, we are looking for rare alleles, so the more plants we try, the better.
I tel you true my hart is ſwolne with wrath,On this ſame theeuish villain Tamburlain.
noun
true (countable and uncountable, plural trues)
(uncountable) The state of being in alignment.
(uncountable, obsolete) Truth.
(countable, obsolete) A pledge or truce.
Examples
Some toolmakers are very careless when drilling the first hole through work that is to be bored, claiming that if the drilled hole comes out of true somewhat it can be brought true with the boring tool.
She clapped her hands happily, and he thought how pretty she was really, that is, the upper part of her face—from the bridge of the nose down she was somewhat out of true.
The crate shifted on its pallet, out of sync now. As the lift withdrew, the crate skidded with it, dragged by friction and gravity, skewing farther and farther from true.
The strength and number of blows depends on how far out of true the shafts are.
verb
true (third-person singular simple present trues, present participle trueing or truing, simple past and past participle trued)
To straighten (of something that is supposed to be straight).
To make even, level, symmetrical, or accurate, align; adjust.
Examples
He trued the spokes of the bicycle wheel.
We spent all night truing up the report.